Newswise: Physics Sponsored By AIP

Department of Energy Announces $9.35 Million for Research on High Energy Density Plasmas

Today, the Department of Energy's Office of Science (SC) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced $9.35 million for 21 research projects in High-Energy Density Laboratory Plasmas (HEDLP).

Berkeley Lab Optical Innovation Could Calm the Jitters of High-Power Lasers

The Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator (BELLA) Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed and tested an innovative optical system to precisely measure and control the position and pointing angle of high-power laser beams with unprecedented accuracy - without interrupting or disturbing the beams. The new system will help users throughout the sciences get the most out of high-power lasers.

Development of a Novel Technology to Check Body Temperature with Smartphone Camera

Thermal-imaging sensors that detect and capture images of the heat signatures of human bodies and other objects have recently sprung into use in thermostats to check facial temperatures in a contactless attempt to screen for COVID-19 at several building entrances.

American Institute of Physics Selects Kevin Watkins as Chief Federation Officer

The American Institute of Physics is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Watkins as AIP's first chief federation officer. He will be joining the institute in September to establish AIP's new federation office that will focus on enabling the goal of being a vibrant federation that advances the success of its 10 Member Societies whose membership in turn comprises 116,000 members of the physical sciences community.

Now in 3D: Deep Learning Techniques Help Visualize X-Ray Data in Three Dimensions

A team of Argonne scientists has leveraged artificial intelligence to train computers to keep up with the massive amounts of X-ray data taken at the Advanced Photon Source.

Finer Flaws: Exploring the Advantages of Defects in Laser Manufactured Materials

APL researchers set out to better understand the influence of different defects on the mechanical performance of additively manufactured materials. In a recent journal article, they provide data to help understand the effects of defects and enable decision-making.

Johns Hopkins APL, Amazon Partner to Accelerate Access to High-Res Brain Mapping Data

An expanded collaboration between APL and the Amazon Web Services' Open Data Sponsorship Program will further enable the storage and accessibility of ever-expanding neuroimaging datasets generated by the neuroscience research community.

URI to Host International Experts for Conference on Future of Quantum Computing

The University of Rhode Island will host more than a dozen international experts in the growing field of quantum information science in October for the inaugural Frontiers in Quantum Computing conference in celebration of the launch of URI's new master's degree program in quantum computing.

Fusion Physicist Roscoe White Steps Down After a Long and Fruitful Career at PPPL

Article profiles 47-year tenure and ground-breaking contributions of distinguished theoretical physicist.

Antimatter From Laser Pincers

In the depths of space, there are celestial bodies where extreme conditions prevail: Rapidly rotating neutron stars generate super-strong magnetic fields.

Imaging Tool Under Development Exposes Concealed Detonators -- and Their Charge

Sandia National Laboratories is developing a new kind of imaging system that will enable people to safely examine sealed metal boxes when opening them could be dangerous.

New Quantum Research Gives Insights Into How Quantum Light Can Be Mastered

A team of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory propose that modulated quantum metasurfaces can control all properties of photonic qubits, a breakthrough that could impact the fields of quantum information, communications, sensing and imaging, as well as energy and momentum harvesting. The results of their study were released yesterday in the journal Physical Review Letters, published by the American Physical Society.

Scientists Offered Using Methanol in Power Generation for Electric Cars

Professors at Ural Federal University (UrFU, Russia) Sergey Shcheklein and Aleksey Dubinin have developed a technology for generating energy for an electric car engine using methanol. An article describing the technology was published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.

Rounding Errors Could Make Certain Stopwatches Pick Wrong Race Winners

Obtaining split-second measurements relies on faultlessly rounding a raw time recorded by a stopwatch or electronic timing system to a submitted time. Researchers at the University of Surrey found certain stopwatches commit rounding errors when converting raw times to final submitted times. In American Journal of Physics, they outline a series of computer simulations based on procedures for converting raw race times for display.

Sandia Designs Better Batteries for Grid-Scale Energy Storage

Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have designed a new class of molten sodium batteries for grid-scale energy storage. The new battery design was shared in a paper published today in the scientific journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

Capturing Electrons in Space

Interstellar clouds are the birthplaces of new stars, but they also play an important role in the origins of life in the Universe through regions of dust and gas in which chemical compounds form.

New Method Predicts 'Stealth' Solar Storms Before They Wreak Geomagnetic Havoc on Earth

On 23 July 2012, humanity escaped technological and economic disaster. A diffuse cloud of magnetized plasma in the shape of a slinky toy tens of thousands of kilometers across was hurled from the Sun at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per second.

Sensor Data Identifies Turbine Wake Clustering, Improves Wind Farm Productivity Via Yaw Control

In the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, researchers describe a real-time method for potentially helping turbine farms realize additional power from the clustering of their turbines. Their method requires no new sensors to identify which turbines at any given time could increase power production if yaw control is applied, and validation studies showed an increase of 1%-3% in overall power gain.

Bleak Cyborg Future from Brain-Computer Interfaces if We're Not Careful

The most promising method to achieve real-world BCI applications is through electroencephalography, a method of monitoring the brain's electrical activity. EEG-based BCIs will require a number of technological advances prior to widespread use, but more importantly, they will raise a variety of social, ethical, and legal concerns. Researchers conducted a review of modern commercial brain-computer interface devices and discuss the primary technological limitations and humanitarian concerns of these devices in APL Bioengineering.

Scientists Further Their Investigation into the Origin of Elements in the Universe

The slow neutron-capture process (the s-process) in nucleosynthesis results in about half of the elements heavier than iron in the universe. Two important reactions in the s-process are Neon-22 (alpha, gamma) and Neon-22 (alpha, neutron), which affect the abundances of elements such as Selenium, Krypton, Rubidium, Strontium, and Zirconium. Researchers recently used two indirect methods to study the reactions.

Main Attraction: Scientists Create World's Thinnest Magnet

Scientists at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley have created an ultrathin magnet that operates at room temperature. The ultrathin magnet could lead to new applications in computing and electronics - such as spintronic memory devices - and new tools for the study of quantum physics.

Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists Announce 2021 Laureates, in America's Largest Unrestricted Scientific Prize for Promising Young Researchers

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists announce the 2021 laureates. Each will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific prize for America's most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers. Winners include: -Kay M. Tye, a neuroscientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., who studies the neural pathways of addiction and compulsive behavior. -Mircea Dincă, an inorganic chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who develops metal-organic frameworks. -Andrea Alu, an electrical engineer and physicist at the Graduate Center, the City University of New York, who studies nano-structured metamaterials.

Students at Institutions Across the U.S. Learn About Plasma and Fusion Research in New Program Managed by PPPL